New GSA travel advisory panel will review per diem methodology

Dec. 27, 2012 - 11:09AM
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The Government-wide Travel Advisory Committee will address current travel trends and provide recommendations on how to reduce costs and incorporate industry best practices into GSA policies, according to the agency. (File)

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The General Services Administration announced Thursday the formation of a new travel advisory committee tasked with reviewing how the agency calculates per diem rates.

The 15-member Government-wide Travel Advisory Committee will be made up of federal travel managers and representatives of state and local governments, travel companies and groups. It will address current travel trends and provide recommendations on how to reduce costs and incorporate industry best practices into GSA policies, according to the agency.

The move comes after GSA froze per diem rates for fiscal 2013 at fiscal 2012 levels — saving agencies an estimated $20 million in travel costs. GSA said the freeze was needed to give the agency time to conduct a comprehensive review of the methodology used to determine per diem rates.

The new effort to increase transparency and lower costs stems from a top-to-bottom review GSA conducted after the release of an April 2 inspector general report about lavish spending at an $823,000 conference in Las Vegas in 2010.

The report forced the removal of top leadership and led to the appointment of Dan Tangherlini as acting administrator.